There will be no home gold medal for France’s footballers at Paris 2024. Instead it was Spain who ended up 5-3 winners of an astonishing men’s final after Sergio Camello scored twice in extra time at the Parc des Princes.
This was a genuinely wild game, an eight-goal, two-hour, see-saw thriller, decorated with brilliant goals, saves, comebacks and an added time VAR equaliser. France will feel unlucky not to have made a long spell of sustained pressure tell. The greatest compliment for Spain’s performance was that it was in its best moments just very Spanish.
At the end of which Spain’s male footballers have now achieved something genuinely rare, reeling off three titles in four weeks with three almost entirely separate teams. Olympic gold here follows victory in the final of the Uefa Under-19 tournament last month and victory at the European Championship in Germany two weeks before that.
Those three titles can now sit alongside the women’s World Cup win last year. It is a startling run of success for everyone involved in the development and coaching of Spanish football.
Part of the blueprint is the fact every one of those teams has played, if not the same way, then with similar attributes: high technique, tactical awareness and above all the ability to see and manage the game in front of them. Game intelligence has been the defining quality of Spain’s summer of love, as opposed to some oppressive one-size tactical system.
Deep in the second half here there was the fascinating sight of six Spanish substitutes, basically another bunch of hyper-skilled young guys, not so much warming up as watching, chatting and following every move. There is a great deal the English game could learn from all of this. Plus ça change.
The Parc des Princes was packed for this final. The pre-match ceremonials were an enjoyable Olympic rag-bag, capped by a live performance of Freed From Desire by the actual Gala, a moving moment for anyone who has witnessed this modern terrace classic sung by so many stands full of giddy people, like finally seeing an actual Warhol. Hopefully this will turbocharge her downloads, Céline Dion-style.
The game kicked off and nothing happened for 11 minutes. Then suddenly everything happened, four goals in 17 minutes, three of them to Spain. France scored first. Álex Baena scuffed his clearance. Enzo Millot took the ball and shot early, although Arnau Tenas, who plays here for Paris Saint-Germain, will be disappointed with his effort to keep it out of the net.
Six minutes later Spain were level via a brilliantly worked goal, Fermín López side-footing into the corner for his fifth of the tournament after an extended period of slick possession. And Spain were 2-1 up soon after with another well-made goal, this time created by a driven cross from the left by Juan Miranda with Fermín in the right place to tap it in.
Spain’s third on 28 minutes came from a free-kick on the left edge of the area. Baena stepped back and floated the most delightfully delicate right-footed shot into the corner, Guillaume Restes static on his line, the kind of misdirection that makes a free-kick goal look so much more lovely.
Thierry Henry brought on fresh legs after the break, replacing Alexandre Lacazette with Arnaud Kalimuendo, who hit the bar with a header just before the hour. France were more patient on the ball, slicker through midfield, with Manu Koné an orderly influence.
They began to make chances. Spain looked tired after an intense three weeks. Tenas made an astonishing right-handed save low down. And with 12 minutes to go France made it 3-2, as Michael Olise’s free-kick was deflected into his own goal by Miranda.
France’s hopes of gold were preserved at the death by a moment of incredible drama as they were awarded a stoppage-time penalty after a VAR check. Replays showed Miranda in a back-post wrestle with Kalimuendo at a corner.
The referee, Ramon Abatti, performed an extraordinary exhibitionist’s strut back from his monitor, paused, then pointed to the spot like a man identifying the killer at the end of a particularly dramatic murder mystery.
Mateta buried it to make it 3-3 in the 93rd minute. The Parc erupted. France deserved to take it deep. But it was Spain who produced the key moment of incision on 99 minutes. Again it came from a long spell of possession. Acceleration arrived with a wonderful nudged pass from Sergio Gómez into the run of Camello. The finish was delightful, dinked over the advancing goalkeeper.
France might have forced it to penalties. In the event the game ended in surreal fashion as Camello scored a second on the counter, awarded at the final whistle after a VAR check. Spain had scored five in a game where they spent more than an hour defending.
This was a first men’s Olympic gold for Spain since 1992, but it felt like completing a set.
